Our pride is always hurt by the same propositions which offend our principles; for when we are shocked at the crime, we are wounded by the suspicion of our compliance.
Thomas Paine: “Our pride is always hurt by the same propositions which offend our principles; for when we are shocked at the crime, we…”
Editor's note · Context
In "The American Crisis," Paine observes that our pride is wounded not only by immoral propositions but also by the implication that we might comply with them.
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Why may we not suppose, that the great Father of all is pleased with variety of devotion; and that the greatest offence we can act, is that by which we seek to torment and render each other miserable?
It serves to keep up deceitful expectations which prevent people from looking into the defects and abuses of government.
If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one.
The horrid scene that is now acting by the English government in the East-Indies, is fit only to be told of Goths and Vandals, who, destitute of principle, robbed and tortured the world they were incapable of enjoying.